• Old-growth forests (Headwaters Forest Preserve)
• Water quality (chemical, physical, benthic macro-invertebrates, microscopic plants and animals, Dead Zone in the Gulf and Duckweed at Moore Pond.)
*Protecting water quality: Prairie buffer strip (infiltration vs. runoff, reducing fertilizer applications
• Interconnections/Relationships between living organisms and between living organisms and the physical environment: *Trees and Salmon;
*Damselfish and Coral;
*Over-fishing and biodiversity of fish;
*Fungus and Coral; Fungus and Trees,
*Permafrost, Methane, Feedback and Global Warming
• History of Land Use in Moore Park and in Iowa (Looking at Maps from 1850’s, 1930, 1950’s, 1970’s 1990’s and today)
• Factors that determine the types of ecosystems in an area. For example, why was much of Iowa covered by Tallgrass Prairie? (Many physical, biological, and geological factors)
• Biodiversity: Articles about pollination and pollinators. The "Rivet" and "Redundancy" Hypothesis vs. "Keystone species" from GSS, Losing Biodiversity p.42-44
*Watersheds and sub-watersheds (Squaw Creek watershed is made up of smaller watersheds, and is part of the larger South Skunk watershed).
*Natural and Artificial Selection
*History of Forests in Iowa: Connecting how climate (and climate change over geologic time) and other non-physical factors (like fire) can have a large influence on the type of ecosystems in an area.
*Watersheds and rain events: Calculated the water leaving the school property for each 1 inch of rain
*Scientific approaches to environmental studies, including controlled experiments (Independent Variables, Dependent Variables, Controls). Read and discussed articles.
Carbon Cycle - Van Helmont's willow tree experiment. Photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition,
Water cycle: Changes of state. Temp. and atomic motion. Fresh water vs salt water resources. Groundwater.
Field Trips and Lab Experiences
• Squaw Creek and the AHS Tributary (Made observations/Gathered data on the physical and chemical characteristics, the habitat, and the plants and animals, especially the benthic macroinvertebrates)
• Moore Park Pond (Made some initial observations and discussed goals for future uses of the pond. Gathered water quality data – physical, chemical, and biological – and made note of the surrounding vegetation)
• Microscopic Observations (Made observations/Gathered data on the organisms living in the Moore Park pond water)
• AHS and Doolittle Prairie (Made observations/Gathered data on the plants and animals in these 2 prairies – the former is considered a dry prairie, and the latter a wet prairie)
• Woodland ecosystem (Made observations/Gathered data in the wooded are west of the teachers parking lot)
*College Creek buffer strips and rain gardens
*Larson Marsh (wetland)
*Water runoff/infiltration activity at Moore Park with professor Wagner's class. Graphed Runoff (y) vs. Number of "events" (x)
*Visited McFarland Park to compare the Prairie, Pond, and Woodland ecosystems there to the same ecosystems that we've seen elsewhere.
• Prairie Video: “America’s Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie”.
*Visited Beichler farm. Sustainable farm that has made efforts to protect water quality and increase wildlife by changing farming practices and planting prairie.
*"Follow the Drop" watershed activity. Surveyed hs grounds to determine how/where rainwater goes when it leaves the hs property.
*Planned and started and discussed a decomposition experiment
*Biogeochemical cycles: Carbon cycle, water cycle, nitrogen cycle
*Discussed and set-up table top Bioshpheres
*Jigsaw activity related to 3 articles on Biodiversity and the Keystone Species Hypothesis
I will post documents and web links on this page that you may find useful.
Project FeederWatch
Main Page and Data Entry: Project FeederWatch
(ID #321438. Password: ameshigh. Login name: lazere)25 most common Iowa feeder visitors (08-09): Iowa Birds
Useful documents:
FeederWatch Tally Sheet.pdf
- Details
- Download
- 71 KB
FeederWatch Tally Sheet Instructions.pdf
- Details
- Download
- 140 KB
Web links
Documents
1st Semester Activities
Topics
• Old-growth forests (Headwaters Forest Preserve)• Water quality (chemical, physical, benthic macro-invertebrates, microscopic plants and animals, Dead Zone in the Gulf and Duckweed at Moore Pond.)
*Protecting water quality: Prairie buffer strip (infiltration vs. runoff, reducing fertilizer applications
• Interconnections/Relationships between living organisms and between living organisms and the physical environment: *Trees and Salmon;
*Damselfish and Coral;
*Over-fishing and biodiversity of fish;
*Fungus and Coral; Fungus and Trees,
*Permafrost, Methane, Feedback and Global Warming
• History of Land Use in Moore Park and in Iowa (Looking at Maps from 1850’s, 1930, 1950’s, 1970’s 1990’s and today)
• Factors that determine the types of ecosystems in an area. For example, why was much of Iowa covered by Tallgrass Prairie? (Many physical, biological, and geological factors)
• Biodiversity: Articles about pollination and pollinators. The "Rivet" and "Redundancy" Hypothesis vs. "Keystone species" from GSS, Losing Biodiversity p.42-44
*Watersheds and sub-watersheds (Squaw Creek watershed is made up of smaller watersheds, and is part of the larger South Skunk watershed).
*Natural and Artificial Selection
*History of Forests in Iowa: Connecting how climate (and climate change over geologic time) and other non-physical factors (like fire) can have a large influence on the type of ecosystems in an area.
*Watersheds and rain events: Calculated the water leaving the school property for each 1 inch of rain
*Scientific approaches to environmental studies, including controlled experiments (Independent Variables, Dependent Variables, Controls). Read and discussed articles.
Carbon Cycle - Van Helmont's willow tree experiment. Photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition,
Water cycle: Changes of state. Temp. and atomic motion. Fresh water vs salt water resources. Groundwater.
Field Trips and Lab Experiences
• Squaw Creek and the AHS Tributary (Made observations/Gathered data on the physical and chemical characteristics, the habitat, and the plants and animals, especially the benthic macroinvertebrates)• Moore Park Pond (Made some initial observations and discussed goals for future uses of the pond. Gathered water quality data – physical, chemical, and biological – and made note of the surrounding vegetation)
• Microscopic Observations (Made observations/Gathered data on the organisms living in the Moore Park pond water)
• AHS and Doolittle Prairie (Made observations/Gathered data on the plants and animals in these 2 prairies – the former is considered a dry prairie, and the latter a wet prairie)
• Woodland ecosystem (Made observations/Gathered data in the wooded are west of the teachers parking lot)
*College Creek buffer strips and rain gardens
*Larson Marsh (wetland)
*Water runoff/infiltration activity at Moore Park with professor Wagner's class. Graphed Runoff (y) vs. Number of "events" (x)
*Visited McFarland Park to compare the Prairie, Pond, and Woodland ecosystems there to the same ecosystems that we've seen elsewhere.
• Prairie Video: “America’s Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie”.
*Visited Beichler farm. Sustainable farm that has made efforts to protect water quality and increase wildlife by changing farming practices and planting prairie.
*"Follow the Drop" watershed activity. Surveyed hs grounds to determine how/where rainwater goes when it leaves the hs property.
*Planned and started and discussed a decomposition experiment
*Biogeochemical cycles: Carbon cycle, water cycle, nitrogen cycle
*Discussed and set-up table top Bioshpheres
*Jigsaw activity related to 3 articles on Biodiversity and the Keystone Species Hypothesis